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A/HRC/S-17/2/Add.1 12 which also became targets. This was the case of the Omari Mosque in Dar’a, which was raided on 23 March. Several of the injured and some medical personnel were killed there. 51. According to the Government, global media inaccurately reported the use of weapons against civilians to discredit the Syrian Arab Republic. Security forces were deployed to the demonstrations to keep the peace, but many of them were killed, including unarmed police officers. For instance, in the city of Homs, 12 police officers were reportedly murdered. The Government claimed that security forces were not usually armed when policing demonstrations. It also claimed that the information on the use of tanks was false, and that they were used solely for rescuing overwhelmed police officers who had no means of defending themselves. C. Arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and other forms of ill-treatment 1. Arbitrary detentions 52. According to many accounts gathered, arbitrary arrests and unlawful detentions were widespread and occurred at an alarming rate in places such as Homs, Hama, Jisr Al-Shughour, Dar’a and in Rif Dimashq, regarded as supportive of the protest movement. 53. Arrests have been conducted mainly in the context of wide-scale military operations targeting specific areas or during demonstrations. Various victims consistently stated that they had been physically or verbally assaulted during the arrest process before being held for various periods of time without due process and routinely subjected to torture. 54. One of the reportedly largest-scale arbitrary arrest campaigns took place in the city of Baniyas on 7 May. According to various eyewitness accounts, the army swept through the villages surrounding the city using tanks, armoured vehicles and soldiers. Security and military forces broke into houses and reportedly arrested more than 500 people, including women and children. A similar incident was reported in Jisr Al-Shughour in the early hours of 14 May. Following a large demonstration on the previous day, members of the security forces arrested more than 400 people during night raids. Some 400 people, including women and children, were detained in the Ramel suburb of Al Ladhiqiyah on 13 and 14 August. 55. Other arrests targeted activists who participated or helped to organize demonstrations and whose names appeared on security forces’ lists. Families and acquaintances of wanted individuals were detained by security forces as a measure of intimidation and retribution. 56. A number of journalists and web activists claimed they had been detained and tortured for reporting on demonstrations. 57. Many of the defectors interviewed indicated that soldiers suspected of sympathizing with or aiding demonstrators were immediately detained. A conscript explained how he witnessed the torture of many defectors inside a prison. 58. Accounts obtained from victims and defectors described arbitrary arrest and conditions of detention in grave terms. Some were detained in the offices of security forces or in prisons, while others were transferred to open stadiums, schools and, in some cases, hospitals. Most of those arrested were blindfolded and handcuffed, and denied food and medical assistance. Several people reported that scores were detained, beaten and tortured in the stadium in Al Ladhiqiyah in August